Monday, December 3, 2012

THE HOUR character colours #1: Hector

While I was writing the post about the colour palette of the
opening scene from The Hour season premiere (here), I noticed the colour red, otherwise absent from the scene,
showed up whenever Hector Madden (Dominic West) was around. Studying the rest
of the episode, this kind of colour-coding seems to happen with at least two
more characters. But first, Hector:

Brief splashes of red in the opening scene indicating Hector’s arrival foreshadow later scenes where Hector is surrounded by red. And why red? “Red by a large margin is the
color most commonly associated with seduction, sexuality, eroticism and
immorality, possibly because of its close connection with passion and with danger.”
(Thanks Wikipedia!) As well as setting the scene, the red backdrop is a not-so-subtle nod to the married Hector's cheating ways. (Meanwhile, gold identifies the club's fixtures and fittings: the lights, the chandeliers, and Hector's blonde date.)